Electric heater.



PATENTED NOV. lQ, 1907.

fr/fQ/ lzwcaxf l JffO/f H. M. WICKER. ELEGTRC HEATER,

APPLIOAMON T1msn nume, 1907.

UN ITED SrFfYFESA PATEN HUGH M. WICKER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC HEATER.

Spe'eieati-on of Letters Patent.

Patented Non'. 121, i90?.

.ipplication tiled January 26| 1907. Seriallo. 354.252.

' ot New Xork', have invented new and uset'iil Improvements in Electric Heaters, ot' which the following is a specification.

The presentinvention relates to heaters of' that type in which the heating ellect is produced by means of electrical currents traversing coils oi wire oin relatively high resistance, so that during passage of the current the temperature ot the coils will be raised to an etlectivelieating point. Heaters -ol this general type have long been known, and are particularly well adapted for car heating, although their use is obviously not restricted to this, since they may be used Wherever a compact, readily controlled, and eli'ective heating device is needed.

The construction which I have invented, and which l shall describe in detail hereinafter, has to do more particularly with the manner oi building up, asseinliling, and securing together the heating units oi" which these systems are usually made up i`or, as is well-known, it is customary to assemble any desired or necessary number olt these units in any convenient relation to each other, so that one or more of the units of the sys teni may be used as desired, and a highly flexible heating apparatus thereby produced.

ln the drawings herewith, in which l have illustrated one embodiment ot niyiinven'tion, l have shown but one oll these units, for it will be obvious that they may be built up in any desired relation mechanically or electrically to torni a completesystem, and in nsaid drawings: Figure l is a side view'ot' a heating unit made iii accordance with my invention. Fig. l is :in end view olV the porcelain or insulating head ol the heater. Mg.y 3 is :1. sectional View' on line oly Fig. 2, looking iii the direction olA the arrows. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 it of Fig. 2, lookingiii the direction oitlie arrows. Fig. 5 isa longitudii'ial sectional view et the unit shown iiilFig. -l, taken on line 3W-5 ot Fig. l, the heating coils and their supporting elements being broken out l'or economy ot' space. Fig.

is a. detailvimvol' a section ol' a coil-supporting element.

ltelerring to the drawings by numerals,

eral views, 2 indicates the porcelain or insulating heads ot the heating unit, the said elei'nents 2 being identical in construction eX cepting' that, as will be seen .trom an inspeetion of Fig. 5, they are placed in reversed re lation at the opposite ends olil the unit. The said porcelain heads 2 are each provided with a countersunk chamber 3, designed te receive the binding posts el, three ot which are shown in the present instance, and shown co1nprise headed bolts passing through holes in the blocks 2 and provided at their screwthreaded outer ends with clamping washers and lock nuts to secure the bolts Al to the p0r-Y eelain heads, said bolts 4 being 'urtiicr provided with binding washers 5, between which the lead wires will be held by means "of binding nuts suitable outlet notches T being provided in the outer walls ot the chambers 3 through which the lead wires pfllss.

lt has been hereinbel'ore stated 'that the end blocks 2 are preferably arranged in reversed relation (see Fig. and this is advantageous i'or the reason that where the units are placed in superposed series the lead wires, which usually connect the successive coils in. series throughout the successive units, may be led in at one side of the unit and pass out at the other side thereof, with a minimum length and conipact arrangement ol' leading-1n wires, and this from a practical standpoint is a desirable feature. The said porcelain heads 2 lorin the supports for the coil-carry ing` elements of the uniti, ysaid coito-arr) ing ele ments (three ol which are strewn in the present case) comprising hollow metal tubes e resting in seats in the inner laces of the porcelain heads 2, said tubes 8 being coered with a tight fitting sleeve ol fibrous insulating material, this material inthe present ease being a woven asbestos sleeve 9,' which is drawn over and snugly tits'the tube 8 troni end to end, will appear from inspection of Fig. lhis construction of coilsupporting element l deem ol especial value in this art, as it gives a very light element, one which mayY be cheaply niade, and one in which insulation and heat radiation are very perl'eet. Preferably the asbestos sleeve t) will 'be woven and it may then be convenientlji drawn on over the tubes in making up the elements.

One of the tubes S which lorin the coil-I embodiment ol' the invention herein shown;

is traversed by a tie--rod lt), the screw-A threaded ends of which pass through holes u I supporting elements, the middle tube inthe like numbers indicating like parts inthe sev- 'tio - with but of less depth than the chamber in the porcelain head .Vand lead to a chain. ber or seat 11 formed in the outer face of the porcelain heads. 'lhis seat l1, in thir present case being shown as cominunicatii' for the binding posts. provided at each end with a spring Washer 12 and clamping nut 13, so as to secure," v lock the part-s' in place and prevent their l lo jarring loose.

it will be observed that b3' the use of a 'single' tie-rod' 10 traversing one of the series of tubular coil-supporting elements 8,'1 can' y bind the whole device or unit iirinlj; to- 15 gether, for the asbestos coated tubes 8 being- 4 seated in'the seats or sockets formed in the porcelain heads 2, and being of the saine length, 'all will be firnilj,v held when the nuts 13 on the tie-rod .10 are set up in assembling the device. Surrounding these coilsupportingelements 8 'are the resistance coils 14, which form the heating inediuin vh f,v reason ofthehigh temperature generated ',by the passage of the eurr'ent through them, 2E 'these resistance coils being wound loosely,A about the asbestos sleeved tubes 8 and being each connected at thee opposite ends of the unit with its binding posts 4, so as to include it in the proper circuit in which it forms one ofthe series of heating media. The unit thus made up is preferably inelosed within va case l5 of perforated. sheet steel, bent to the proper forni to iit the unit; this easing,

as shown, inelesing'entirelv the end porcel'ains 2 and having openingsl therein coin- '.ciding 'Wit-hthe openings 7 in the porcelain head 2 so as to accommodate the leading-in wires. v The ends of the porcelain heads 2 are 40 covered, and the seats '3 and 11 inclosed bj; ,means of end )lates 17 preferably of cast iron, iii ordler that the saine mayY be readily adapted to`be east as a nanie-plate, these end plates 17 being preferably' lined with. asbestos 18, as shown, and each having a central hole through which p'asses the end of the tie-rod 10, a clamping nut and Washer 19 being provided so that the end plates may be secured. in place and held by the saine. elenient`(tie-rod 10) that binds the whole unit together'.

I nd that the porcelain heads 2 which I have devised, having the ilat surfaces at either side thereof, are of value from a practical standpoint, in that thejgv give a unit which ina-jy' be mounted ina very stable manner upon a support; and with the-se flat surfaces resting upon each other it is an. easy matter to assemble or bulid up a strong superposed. stable series of these units and bind the whole together to forni a heating system. llurtherinore, by chan'ibering'thel porcelaine`- in the manner shown 'and pro-' viding v.the cut-.out notches 7 for the lead wires, g convenient `construction is' provided and one in which the binding posts, tie-rods, Yeads, ctc. maj; be easily-manipulated, the vhoic ol' the unit being completely inclesed within a protecting' nietal casing in such a manner that there are no projecting porcclain parts to he chipped or fractured in liandiing and this l leoni of considerable importance; lor it is obvious that without this outer casing of iron conn)letelyinclosing the porceain heads it would necessaryA to malte these heads of much greater thickness, to enable them to withstand the han* :lling to which the; are sul.=jected in service. Another feature which is of great value is that the construction permits of-the use of a single tie-rod to bind all 'of the elements of` the unit, including vthe casing, together, this -being due in part to 'the fact that I have I dopted a tubular coil-supporting element, through which the tie-rod passes. .Miditionally the tubular coil-supporting element has the adantage of being light; it, With iis fibrous sleeve of insulating material is 'complete in itself,. and it fornis a perfect support for 'the coil; for it not onlzvT insulates 90 the coil, but it deadens all noise of the rattling of the coils against. their supports. lurthcrniore, the tubular coil-supporting element lends itself ver? readily to the assembling of the paris ol' the unit, for .it 95 will be obvious that the coils may be threaded upon these tubular upporting elements, the porcelain heads placed. upon the ends-0f the, tubes and then the tie-rod may be passed,

through iis containing tube and the binding 10() nuts at the ends of the tie-rod set up.

lVhile I have shown a particular emb0diment of my inventionvand that the best ,f'luiewn to me, it will be understood that various chain/ges within the skill 0f-the.1 0i'r inechanician maj; be inade Without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, and I do not; therefore, linut nl vself to any of the 'details shown and described except inso far as l ani limited by the ternis lol' the ap- 110 pended claims and 4Jthe prior art to which this invention belongs.'

Having vdisclosed iniv intention, I claim:

1. fl heating unit for electric heaters, coinprising insulating heads, coil-sup'portingele- 115 nien/ts, the ends'of which enter sockets in said heads, coilsI mounted on said supports, a housing for said' unit, end-plates for said housing, and a tie-rod traversing one of the said coil-supportin l through said end-p ates and serviiigto bind all of the elements ol` the unit together'. I'

2. A l'ieating unit l'or electric heaters coinprising insulating heads having socketsfin their opposed inner 'laces and reversely 125 placed chambers in theirouter faces, e0niposite coil-supporting elcinents of niet-altubes and asbestos sleeves having their ends entered in said sockets, coils mounted on said sui'iporting elements, binding .posfsf'130 g eleinentsand extending s vmsa -mounted in said insulating heads on oppo- 'site sides of said coils with their outer ends entering said chambers, and a tie-rod traversing one of said coil-supporting elements I and serving to bind the ads, tubes, and coils to ether.

3. A eating unit" for electric heaters conlprising insulati 0' heads, binding posts mounted in said eads coil-supporting elements connecting said heads, coils .mounted on said supporting elements, a housing extended froni end to end of and coni letely inclosnnr the unit, end plates for sait housing, an a tie-rod vtraversing the structure from end to end and serving to bind theend plates, housinv, heads, and coil supporting` elements together.

4. A heating unit for electric heaters comrising insulating heads having open chaniiiers in their outer faces provided with leading-in notches, binding posts entering said chambers, coil-supporting-elenients enterinv sockets in the inner opposed faces of sai heads, coils mounted on said elements, an iiiclosiiig housing halving coincident leadingin notches extending from end to end of said unit, end plates havinv an insulating linin 1 closing said chamberei heads, and a tie-ruil traversing the structure and serving to hind l the. end plates, housing, insulating heads,

and coil-supporting elements together.

5. A heatingr unit for electric heaters conirising insulating heads having open chain- 'hers iii their outer faces provided with lead- I ing-in notches, binding posts entering said chambers, tubular coil-supporting elements entering sockets in the inner opposed laces of said heads, coils mounted on said elements, an inclosinf.: housing having coincident leading-in notches extendingy from end to end ol said unit, end plates having an insulating lining closing said chanihered heads, and a tie-rod traversing one of vthe tubular coilsu pport-ing elements and servingr to hind the end plates, housing, insulating heads, a'nd coil-sup orting eleineiits together. 6. A heating unit for-electric heaters having insulating and coil-carrying heads provided on their opposite sides with parallel flat surfaces, to permit building up the units in a stable series.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HUGH M. WICKER.

Titnesses1 ROBERT A. BEsHLIAN, CHESTER. G. Pixies. 

